Sprint announced today, from the JavaOne conference, its newest programs for application developers:

- Sprint Developer Sandbox will provide access to tools to let developers quickly and easily create location-based services (LBS) applications, messaging applications and more. - Three additional location aggregation providers, Alcatel-Lucent, LOC-AID and Useful Networks, to help developers create new location-based services for Sprint customers. - The ninth annual Sprint Application Developer Conference, Oct. 26-28, 2009, which, for the first time, will be open to all developers.

Here is more info on the free Developer SandBox and new LBS partners:

First carrier to offer free Developer Sandbox

Sprint is the first U.S. carrier to offer the application developer community a free Developer Sandbox (http://developer.sprint.com/sandbox), open to all Sprint registered developers, that provides developers access to an expansive set of Sprint network, handset and product capabilities to use in creating applications. The first Sprint Developer Sandbox, which launches today, is the Sprint Network and Product Services Sandbox. The sandbox provides an easy-to-use format where developers can take the Sprint services and mashup with other available third-party services to create innovative web pages and applications. The new Developer Sandbox simplifies the developers? ability to leverage Sprint?s powerful network services. Sprint will be launching additional sandboxes in the Sprint Developer Sandbox that highlight a specific set of development capabilities.

Open location platform expands with Alcatel-Lucent, LOC-AID and Useful Networks

In addition, Sprint announced that it is expanding its open location platform with three additional companies to give developers more ways to create new location-based services for Sprint customers. Sprint launched its open location platform in December with Veriplace and WHERE, and today announced the addition of Alcatel-Lucent, LOC-AID and Useful Networks. These platforms protect the privacy and security of Sprint customers while offering third-party mobile, Web, WAP, SMS, and widget developers a consistent way to create applications that use the customer?s location information with prior permission to provide customized information and services.

All of the platforms provide developers with simple, powerful tools to create and launch location-enabled applications, accelerating and simplifying certification and on-boarding applications that use GPS, triangulation and other location services to provide useful information to customers, while protecting customer privacy.